Construction Cost Calculation Software
Bouwflow is construction cost calculation software that takes you from bill of quantities to quotation and, with post-calculation, shows the margin you really make on each job.
What is pre- and post-calculation in construction?
Pre-calculation, also called cost estimating, is the budget you draw up before a job starts: from your bill of quantities you set your materials, hours, subcontractors and margin per item, and turn that into your quotation.
Post-calculation comes afterwards: you put your budget next to the actual costs, so you know what a job really earned. That way, construction cost calculation software brings the pre-calculation and the post-calculation together in one place.
What is Bouwflow?
Bouwflow is the all-in-one platform for contractors. In one environment you combine pre- and post-calculation, quotes, time tracking and purchasing, while your teams work on site with the OnSitePro mobile app. You replace scattered spreadsheets and tools with a single system where all your project data comes together. More than a thousand construction professionals already use Bouwflow to run their projects faster and with more oversight.
Features
A glimpse of what's inside calculation & quotes
Bill of quantities
Bills of quantities
Build a bill of quantities with headings and items, then keep it as a template. On a similar project you simply pull it back out.
Import
Save the architect's bill of quantities or a public tender as CSV and import it. Bouwflow reads the lines and the columns, even when the sheet runs to thousands of them.
Measurements
Enter your dimensions and Bouwflow works out the areas, lengths and volumes per item.
Parameters
With parameters and choice logic, one bill of quantities covers several variants. The chosen value also shows up in the item descriptions.
Optional items
An optional item does appear on your quote with its price, but does not necessarily count towards the total.
Calculating
Pre-calculation
Cost every item with articles, labour and formulas. You see your cost price and your margin per line before the quote goes out.
Purchase prices
Purchase prices from your article records feed straight into your calculation.
Labour
Count internal hours per labour type, say bricklayer or electrician. Your staff's hourly rate then feeds the post-calculation.
Direct costs
Costs that don't belong to a single item get spread across the whole bill of quantities. They end up in your price anyway.
Margins
You read your margin per item and on the bill of quantities total, not only after the fact.
Quotes
Quotes
Turn your bill of quantities into a quote in one click, with or without the underlying items. Quotes are multilingual and fully editable.
Digital signing
The customer signs your quote online through a link. Once approved you turn it into an invoice or a progress claim.
Quote reminders
Chase open quotes with a reminder, one at a time or a whole batch at once.
Post-calculation
Post-calculation
Everything booked on your project counts towards the post-calculation. Bouwflow puts your expected margin next to the real one, and red figures show which sites are over budget.
Start-up sheets
The surveyor records the actual quantity on site, next to the sold and the advised quantity. Project manager and team leader both sign.
Categories
Your post-calculation groups by category and subcategory. That shows you where the cost actually sits.
How does calculation work in Bouwflow?
Every pre-calculation starts from a bill of quantities in your project. From there you build your quotation, and afterwards your post-calculation, without retyping any figures.
- Build your bill of quantities freely, like a detailed quotation, or import it from Excel or a spec: save it as CSV and Bouwflow recognises the columns automatically.
- Let areas, lengths and volumes be calculated automatically with measurements, so you do not have to work out your quantities per item by hand.
- Calculate each item with articles, labour and subcontractors, using purchase prices from your supplier management, and see your margin per item and on the total.
- Turn your bill of quantities into a quotation in one click, and after approval into an invoice or a progress statement.
- Open the post-calculation per project: Bouwflow automatically pulls in your invoices, purchase invoices and logged hours and places your expected margin next to your actual margin.
What calculation in Bouwflow gives you
Know what to charge
Because you see your cost price and margin per item, you set your quotation price on figures instead of gut feel.
See your real margin per job
With post-calculation you know not what you thought you would earn, but what you actually kept, per project and across all your jobs.
Quote more sharply after every job
Each finished project feeds your next calculation, so your prices keep pace with your real costs.
No double work from Excel
Your bill of quantities becomes your quotation, your invoice and your post-calculation, so you never retype your figures.
Spot loss-making jobs early
Figures in red show at once which projects go over budget, so you can step in before your margin evaporates.
Reuse your calculations
Save bills of quantities and items as templates and build the calculation for a similar project in a fraction of the time.
Frequently asked questions about pre- and post-calculation
Related features
Invoicing
Create invoices, invoice progress states and follow up payments automatically.
Project Management & Planning
Comprehensive tools for project planning, progress tracking, and collaboration.
Supplier Management
Manage your suppliers, purchase invoices, prices and orders in one place, linked to every project.